Matte Experiments!

As the title suggests, this post is going to be about the effect a matte topcoat has on different colours and finishes of nail polish :) I tried glittery, metallic and holographic out this time, and now it's time to share the results with you :)

My first little experiment was just too see how the matte top coat would alter the No7 Star Showers with Vivid Violet tips that I was already wearing, just before I took it off to do a whole new manicure. This is how it looked over my previous manicure, one left glossy for comparison -

As you can see I applied the matte topcoat (Rimmel Lycra Pro in Matte Finish Mattifying Top Coat is the one I have used throughout this post) and it did make quite a big difference, although I definitely prefer the glossy look for the Star Showers, really lets the different coloured glitters shine through :).

Rather than just doing 5 different colours and mattifying them, I decided to start with a black base - for which I used w7 Black - and then use some striping tape to apply my colours over the black, here is what they looked like without top coat -

I made this a little hard for myself, by doing the colours on different nails on each hand! The ring fingers are easy, that is Revlon in Radient - which I adore. 17 Holo in Silver is seen on my thumb in the top picture, and index finger in the bottom picture. On my index finger on top (thumb bottom pic) we have No7 in Milan, another definite favourite of mine. The middle finger of the top pic and pinky of the bottom are Essie's Blue Rhapsody, finally my pinky on top/middle on bottom is Constance Carroll Diamond Gloss in Diamond.

I then applied my Matte top coat, and here are the results -

I didn't like the effect of the matte over the holographic nail polish, it just made it a somewhat boring pale grey colour. I liked the effect of the matte over Milan, and I actually really liked the effect over the glitter, it seems taking away the glossy finish makes the glitter pieces stand out a bit more. I quite liked it over the silver too, but didn't think it made much of an improvement to the Essie metallic blue - but I love that one as it is anyway!

I love the matte topcoat, and it is a surefire way to make even the simplest of manicures a bit more interesting, though it does have its downfalls too - it doesn't dry very fast, and chips a lot quicker than my other topcoats of choice.

A friend asked me to do this post, so I hope that it has been informative for her, and anyone else :)

Thanks for reading, S x

Shiny New Things! Part Two

As promised, here is the second part showing you the rest of the new additions to my nail polish family (that's right,  family heehee). I have been longing to try out Essie nail polish for sometime now, but at nearly £8 a bottle I just couldn't justify it... Until finding some of last seasons polishes at £3 a bottle in The Original Factory Shop! I bought every single colour they had, even a bright orange that I have no idea how I'm going to use! It was just an opportunity too good to miss.

After getting home with my new polishes, I decided to do a bit of reading about what I had bought (something I usually do beforehand, but it was so spur of the moment). I am so glad I had bought these polishes before I read what other people had to say about them, as it wasn't very positive, so I probably wouldn't have bought them. Which would have been a shame, as I LOVE them! The polishes that were on offer were the Essie Mirror Metallics 2012 collection -

From left to right; No Place Like Chrome, Blue Rhapsody, Nothing Else Metals, Penny Talk and Good As Gold. Here is what they looked like on my nails -

I cannot emphasise enough how much I love these, I don't have many metallic polishes in my collection, and these are just perfect. I have read a lot of comments saying that the formula was poor, and really streaky, but my nails pictured above was just one coat, it went on like a dream, and I am very happy with the finish - this doesn't even have a top coat! Also it dries in seconds, literally, it is perfect. I am super excited to try out stamping with it too, since it gives such an opaque effect with just one coat. Here is a closer look at the colours -

Above is Blue Rhapsody, a brilliant Metallic blue. Next is Nothing Else Metals, which has a girly pink/lilac colour -

The next polish is a metallic silver, called No Place Like Chrome, it is now my favourite silver in my collection -

Next we have a copper toned polish called Penny Talk, it is beautiful with a pinkish bronze colour, and is unlike any colour I have seen before. It is probably my favourite of the collection, although Blue Rhapsody is a very close second! Anyway, here is it -

The final polish is Good As Gold, which is a subtle metallic gold -

Pretty huh? I'm sure you can tell how excited I am about these polishes, they will be making an appearance again very soon!

The last new addition is a bit of a random one, I just found it all by itself, it is another Essie, in Orange, It's Obvious, which is a really rich reddish orange that I can't wait to try out... I just need to find the right occasion or nail art design! Here it is -

Definitely a different one for my collection! I am immediately thinking back to my autumn leaf mani of last year, the orange I used then didn't show up too well, I'm sure this one would, perhaps I will recreate my design this autumn using this Orange - the ideas are forming up already :).

Anyway, I really hope this kind of post is interesting to you, as they actually take ages! I just like to share my excitement :) I will soon be sharing some actual nail art with you though, if you are getting bored of reading about my shopping!

Much love, S x

Krackle Queen

This design started when I decided that I wanted to wear the same nail polish on my last day as I did to my job interview (christmas temp work) and painted all my nails with 3 coats of Rimmel Metal Rush in Pearly Queen, still LOVE it :) See the full post about this polish here.

I then just couldn't wait to try out one of my new polishes, my first Krackle top coat, it was a christmas gift from my mum. It is by a brand called toma, which I am unfamiliar with, called Krackle nail lacquer in TMK11 Mauve. I was only going to do one accent nail on each hand, but liked the effect so much I added another. I find that the purple colour of the krackle polish really complements the purple tones in the metal polish, but also contrasts well with it when it appears more golden.

Here are the photo's, again pearly queen has proved to be tricky to photograph well, but you get the idea :)

Really love how this has turned out, will definitely be using more crackle polishes in the future :)

Bye for now, S x

Purple Puddings...?

So, I got a little bored of Purple Reign by itself, so decided to experiment with a bit of nail art. I just wanted to do a dripping design, but the colours I chose ended up looking quite christmassy! I think they look like little christmas tree baubles, but my boyfriend says they look like purple christmas puddings! I'll have to remember this one for nearer christmas, and do it again in christmas pudding colours :)

I used Constance Carroll Diamond Gloss in 248 Diamond over Rimmel Metal Rush in 80 Purple Reign and this is what I came up with -

I was trying to capture the different shades in the purple as well as the shininess of the silver :) I created this look using a large dotting tool for the tops of the nail and the ends of the drips, then connecting the 2 parts using a small dotting tool. It was an easy look to create, and I think it is quite cute and fun :) I am so pleased with this silver, it came from a bargain bucket at less than £1, and it is so shiny and really easy to work with.

If I remember closer to christmas, I will use this technique as a base for a christmas pudding design, should be fun!

Cherio for now, S x

Another Metal Rush

So, I was going out for a meal with my boyfriend and his friends from Ju Jitsu, and quickly decided it was a perfect excuse to try our the other Rimmel Metal Rush polish that I bought the other day, after how in love with Pearly Queen I was. This colour is 80 Purple Reign, it is beautiful, but I still prefer Pearly Queen!

This one is quite a bright purple with just a hint of gold, it doesn't have nearly as much variation in colour as Pearly Queen does, but it is still really shiny and pretty, and being a brighter colour, is ideal if you are going for a more striking look.

This is 2 coats, over base coat and hardener -

It's pretty huh? As with all Rimmel polishes I have used I was impressed with the ease of application, and how quickly it dried :) this is another one that is striking enough to wear as it is, and this is how I wore it out for dinner, It didn't receive as much interest/compliments as Pearly Queen did, but I still loved wearing it.

Bye for now, S x

New Favourite Polish... (maybe)

So this post is about the Rimmel Metal Rush polish in 100 Pearly Queen. I was looking for something subtle yet eye catching to wear to my job interview on Tuesday, and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out Pearly Queen, and am happy to say that I absolutely LOVE it. It is so shimmery, with hints of silver, gold, pink and green, though I'm not sure if I managed to capture these at their best in the following photographs.

I have photographed what 1 coat, 2 coats and 3 coats of this polish look like, to show you that you can easily wear it any of these ways, with quite a different effect for each.

1 coat of this polish just gives a subtle shimmery look -

(This is over base coat and hardener) as you can see this does not provide an opaque finish, but it still adds a pretty, shimmery look if you only wanted a subtle look. Whilst I have not captured the full range of colours in the above photos, they are all still present even with one coat.

2 coats results in an almost opaque look -

I was happy with my nails just like this, but added a 3rd coat anyway just to see how it would look -

This nail polish is awesome, it looks different under different lighting, it looks really awesome in the dark under a street light or something, it's just so shiny! I loved it so much I didn't even want to do any nail art over it, and wore it until it started chipping. This nail polish was fast drying, easy to apply (I love the big brush in Rimmel polishes) and pretty hard wearing! It took 3 days before there were any noticeable chips!

All in all, very happy with this polish, and I'm sure I will be wearing it lots in the future, especially when I want really dazzling nails but don't have time to do nail art. Also, I GOT THE JOB!!

Blog you soon, S x